For the seventh year, the Tohoku University Engineering Summer Program (TESP) was held from July 27 to August 7. Nevertheless, and this year it was extended for the first time to electrical and electronic engineering, in addition to robotic engineering, and attracted more than 60 students from 18 different countries. The two-week program is a unique chance for participants to engage in world-leading research, attend lectures given in English by world-class professors in their respective fields, as well as discover Japan and its traditions.

Sendai in summer provides various extracurricular activities such as the Tanabata festival and a 2-hour long fireworks show. In addition, the organizers of TESP offered a taste of Japanese traditional cultures in the form of tea ceremony and kimono dressing, not to mention the traditional field trip that took participants out of Sendai, to the Nikka Whisky distillery. The students took a tour of the facilities, learnt how whisky is made and finally eagerly gathered in the tasting room for the most anticipated part of the trip. The group then headed to neighboring Yamagata Prefecture, where they had a soba lunch, tried traditional "Hanagasa" dancing, and visited a factory that makes shogi sets (Japanese chess). There, the students designed their own shogi tiles. The day wound down with a relaxing cruise on Yamagata's famous Mogami River while enjoying the wildlife, scenery, and one of the longest waterfalls in Japan.

As usual, during their free time the participants went to Matsushima, one of the three most scenic views in Japan, visited Japanese shrines on a steep mountain slope in Yamadera and enjoyed rambling around in Kokubuncho, the center of nightlife in Sendai, where they could perfect their singing skills at a karaoke club in cosplay wear.